Regardless of the verdict within the upcoming trial of Quantity One (Rebecca Romijn) in Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds season 2, it will not overturn a significant Starfleet prejudice that continues lengthy into the twenty fourth century. Unusual New Worlds season 1 ended with the arrest of Una Chin-Riley for failing to reveal her genetic augmentations and Illyrian heritage. The Unusual New Worlds season 2 trailer revealed that Una will ultimately return to the Enterprise, which implies that she’ll escape each a jail sentence and dismissal from Starfleet. How Una wins her case stays to be seen, however Star Trek canon has established that, sadly, the decision does not result in sweeping societal adjustments.
The ban on genetic modifications was launched with the intention of avoiding the rise of one other Khan Noonien-Singh within the wake of the devastating Eugenics Struggle. Nonetheless, this ban is successfully a type of prejudice that’s laborious to sq. with Starfleet and the Federation’s egalitarian ethos. Canonically, Una Chin-Riley will be the first increase to fall foul of Starfleet’s stringent restrictions, however she will not be the final. Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and Dal L’Rel (Brett Grey) had been additionally exemplary Starfleet officers, whose genetic enhancements barred them from entry into the establishment. It is a stark reminder that Una’s trial is step one in a really lengthy street that stretches so far as Star Trek: Prodigy.
Quantity One’s Trial Is Solely The First Step In Fixing A Large Starfleet Drawback
No matter how Quantity One wins her trial in Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds season 2, it is identified that she’s an exception, moderately than a brand new rule. The ban on genetic enhancements was nonetheless in place a century later when Star Trek: Deep Area 9 revealed that Julian Bashir was an increase. A couple of years later, Dal L’Rel’s heroism in saving Starfleet from the Vau N’kat and their Residing Assemble counted for nothing when his origins as an increase had been found. It is fascinating to ponder why the increase ban continues to be firmly in place a century after the First Officer of the Federation’s flagship was found to be genetically enhanced.
It is doubtless that the rediscovery of Khan Noonien-Singh in Star Trek: The Authentic Collection significantly set again progress for a way Starfleet perceived augments. Up till the invention of the S.S. Botany Bay Khan was a monster from historical past, whose shadow might have diminished over time. Una’s position on the USS Enterprise and her Starfleet file would have executed so much to eclipse these damaging attitudes towards augments. Nonetheless, confronted with Khan’s tried hijack of the Enterprise, and his theft of the Genesis Machine, Starfleet doubtless determined that it was smart to maintain the ban in place.
DS9’s Physician Bashir Might Reveal How Quantity One Stays In Starfleet
When Physician Julian Bashir was found to be genetically enhanced within the DS9 episode “Physician Bashir, I Presume”, he too was confronted with dismissal from Starfleet. The sacrifice of Julian’s father stored Bashir aboard Deep Area 9. It was revealed that Julian’s dad and mom performed the unlawful enhancements as a result of he was behind the opposite youngsters in school. As a toddler, Julian could not have legally consented to the augmentations, which might be what exonerates Una in Unusual New Worlds season 2.
As an Illyrian, genetic enhancements are a part of Una’s tradition, so she would have inherited lots of her augmentations from her dad and mom. As genetic enhancement is a part of the Illyrian tradition in Star Trek, it is also possible that Una could not be blamed for the augmentations licensed by her dad and mom, or made doable by her cultural background. This loophole could present a means out of Una’s predicament, inserting her again the place she belongs for the remainder of Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds season 2.
Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds season 2 premieres Thursday, June 15, on Paramount+.